World Championships: Veterans Wang Zongyuan, Chen Yuxi Add Synchro Golds
Chinese veteran divers Wang Zongyuan and Chen Yuxi have adapted to new partners well, adding synchro diving gold medals Monday at the World Aquatics Championships.
Wang teamed with 1-meter gold medalist Zheng Jiuyuan to win 3-meter men’s synchro, the fifth straight World Championships at which China has reigned in the event.
Chen and new partner Zhang Minjie won women’s platform synchro.
Zheng is the fourth different partner that Wang has won a significant synchro medal with, joining Long Daoyi (2 Worlds and the Paris Olympics), Cao Yuan (2022 Worlds) and Xie Siyi (Tokyo Olympics). Wang has nine career Worlds medals, all of them gold, plus four Olympic medals.
“I’ve taken part in this event at four World Championships. I’m pleased with today’s showing, and it’s also the highest score out of all four times,” Wang said. “My partner did really well today, and I was also able to perform to expectations.”
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Zheng won the 1-meter springboard on Sunday, making for two busy days for the 21-year-old.
There was little drama in either competition in Singapore. Wang and Zheng had the best dive of five of six rounds, excepting only the fifth, in which they were second. They led wire-to-wire, their tally of 467.31 points putting them 18 clear of the Mexican runner-up.
Both pairings finished strong. Juan Celaya Hernandez and Osmar Olvera landed a 5156B in the sixth and final round for 95.94 points. It was the highest-scoring dive of the competition … until Wang and Zheng went for 99.18 points on the 109C.
China’s 3-meter springboard Wang Zongyuan and Zheng Jiuyuan; Photo Courtesy: Singapore 2025/World Aquatics
The Mexican pair finished second with a score of 449.28 points. For Olvera, still just 21 years old, it’s his seventh career Worlds medal and third of this meet, all of which are silver. Celaya won his first medal since 2019, when he paired with Yahel Castillo for bronze in this event.
“It’s amazing,’” Celaya Hernandez said. “It’s proof of the things that we’re doing right working with our coach Ma Jin. I’m definitely happy with the performance because we beat our score from Paris, so it’s a PB for us, so we’re going to keep working on details so that next time we can get the gold.”
Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher of Great Britain were in third place after each of the last four rounds. They finished with bronze in 405.33. Ukraine’s Kirill Boliukh and Stanislav Oliferchyk jumped over Italy’s Lorenzo Marsaglia and Giovanni Tocchi on the final dive for fourth. The American duo of Grayson Campbell and Jack Ryan finished sixth.
Like Wang, Chen has a plenty impressive medal record, this gold her eighth total and seventh gold at World Championships. She proved a quick study with Zhang, who stepped in during the spring after an injury to Quan Hongchan, with whom the 19-year-old Chen won gold at the Paris Olympics last year.
“Our chemistry is on-and-off. But today, our chemistry and coordination were good because we were happy to be in the final,” Zhang said. “We adjusted and aligned well to each other along the way.”
The new duo dominated the field with a score of 349.26, delivering the top dive of each round to finish 44.46 points ahead of the Mexican pair of Gabriela Agundez and Alejandra Estudillo.
“After the Paris Olympics, I made some mental adjustments in preparation for the World Championships,” Chen said. “And now standing at the World Championships today, it actually feels a bit different from the last cycle. I think this time around, I’m more focused on my own movements. Even today, I felt that I was more concentrated on my own performance.”
The Mexican duo was sixth after two rounds but delivered the second-best dive of the next two rounds to jump up to silver in 304.80. Third was North Korea, a second medal of the meet for Jin Mi Jo, this time paired with Mi Hwa Kim.
“This is the first year we’re competing together, and I feel really happy because it’s my first medal at the world championships in synchro,” Agundez said. “I’m grateful to share this with Alejandra.”
Australia’s Ellie Cole and Milly Puckeridge finished fourth, just over a point ahead of Maisie Bond and Lois Toulson of Great Britain. The American pairing of Bayleigh Cranford and Daryn Wright finished sixth.
